Damage to Muslim center leads to calls for investigation

After possible bullet holes were discovered at the Muslim Community Center this week, the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced Saturday that it was asking police to investigate the incident as a possible hate crime.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations wrote in its press release that the “targeted act of violence” against the mosque “appears to be yet another attack on the Muslim community.” Founded in 1969, the Muslim Community Center in Irving Park is one of the oldest and largest Muslim organizations in Chicago.

According to Saif Mazhar, chairman of the Muslim Community Center's security committee, office workers first discovered bullet holes in the building's glass doors over Labor Day weekend. When several new holes were discovered two days later on Tuesday, it became clear the mosque was a target, Mazhar said.

The community has been “shaken” since then, Mazhar said. On Thursday, he contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and requested that the incident be investigated as a possible hate crime, in parallel with the Chicago Police Department's investigation.

“We don't want to be targeted again,” Mazhar said. “We want the FBI to investigate the situation thoroughly because we are citizens too. We live here too. We are Americans too. So we don't want to be the 'other' … we want to be part of the same team.”

According to Chicago police, damage to the front windows and doors of the Muslim Community Center at 4380 N Elston Avenue was reported to police around 6 a.m. Tuesday. No suspects have been arrested and detectives are investigating the incident, police said Saturday.

Chicago police could not comment on whether the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

However, CAIR-Chicago officials reiterated that the decision to destroy a mosque was probably not made by chance.

“It is unclear where the apparent bullet holes came from, whether it was a firearm, pellet gun or something else, but it seems clear that the person who caused this damage to a Muslim house of worship did not come in peace,” wrote Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago, in his press release Saturday. “This attack is not just against a building; it is an attack on the safety of the Muslim community and their right to freely worship.”

The vandalism at the Muslim Community Center occurred at night when the mosque was closed, Mazhar said. The incident was not recorded on surveillance cameras because the cameras were not aimed directly at the doors.

The mosque has delayed repairing the damage to the building for days since the incident, Mazhar said, as they hoped the FBI or other investigators would come by to examine the possible bullet holes. However, since no one has come by, they now plan to begin repairing the building, he added.

Mazhar, who was born and raised in Chicago, said that while he has felt more Islamophobia lately, “for years we always seemed like the others and not part of the community.”

Hafsa Haider, spokeswoman for CAIR-Chicago, said there has been a significant increase in hate crimes against Palestinians and the Muslim community in general since the Democratic National Convention in August. This latest attack on a Muslim house of worship is “particularly concerning,” Haider said, because mosques are supposed to be the place where people “feel the safest, the most comfortable and the most vulnerable.”

“We want to make sure this is taken just as seriously as if it were any other religious group,” Haider said. “We find that sometimes our voices and the needs of our community are not a priority.”

The incident at the Muslim Community Center is not the only one of its kind this week, CAIR officials noted. Another act of vandalism at an obviously Muslim property occurred over Labor Day weekend, when the window of the Palestinian cafe Nabala Cafe in Uptown was smashed. A Palestinian flag was visible in the broken window.

“This is the second attack on Muslim property in recent days that police have classified as mere property damage; a hate motive should not be ruled out without a thorough investigation,” CAIR-Chicago attorney Joseph Milburn wrote in the organization's press release.

From January to June 2024, CAIR received 4,951 complaints of Islamophobic discrimination – a 69% increase compared to the same period in 2023, the nonprofit said.

Tribune reporter Deanese Williams-Harris contributed to this report

Originally published: September 7, 2024 at 1:48 p.m.